Secrets of Youth
by ObsessedWithOceanVessels
Summary: Her family loves her, she is certain of that. They have never caused her pain or suffering. All that they do, they do out of love. In her dreams all families are like this. At age sixteen, Beatrice Prior meets a quiet, talented boy, who at a young age made it his mission to go unnoticed by those around him. He makes her wake up and realize she is luckier than she could have imaged.
1. Chapter 1

Have you ever seen herds of animals on TV, the way it's pure and utter chaos? The young getting lost in the crowd with the parents continuing to move forward. Well, I personally think that every school morning in the parking lot is the exact same thing. You see the preppies holding those huge, plastic, blue and white lunchboxes that are nearly a third of their size, with their broad brimmed hats flopping down over their faces while they play with their friends. Some constantly lift it up while others just drop it to the ground. But as you go up the age scale you see how innocent 5 year olds are. The seniors of the school walk in their 'packs', every now and then you come across a group where the boys show off their bruit strength, or as I like to call it stupidity, causing the girls to smile flirtatiously. Honestly, I'm glad I've never been one of those girls, nor will I ever be. The way they chase after those boys just shows how incredibly stupid they are. They think that at age sixteen they have the right to act the way they want. Completely forgetting about the young kids that see their behaviour and think it's how all older kids act. I turn away from the car window and find my brother, Caleb, is reading another one of his books. 'Algebraic equations' is written across the cover in a bold blue. I roll my eyes.

"You do realise they're going to teach us this _in class_?" I say, smiling at his, 'maturity' as he likes to call it.

"I'm pretty sure in Maths C they don't explain it to you again though. So I'm not taking the risk." he tells me, not bothering to look up.

"Umm, actually, son, they do." my dad tells him, keeping his eyes on the cars in front of him, "They just expect you to understand it quicker and have your own motivation." I snicker, and my mum in the seat in front of me suppresses a smile. Caleb closes the book.

"Well, that was a waste then, I could have been reading something else." He says ruefully. I pat him on the shoulder.

"It's alright, maybe they'll give us reading book in English." I say sarcastically. His expression brightens.

"Hopefully…" he says, mainly to himself. I shake my head and look out the window once more, noticing the traffic is shortening a head of us; only about seven cars until we reach the parking spaces. I sigh and lean my head back on the head rest, all the while placing my ear phones in and turning up the volume. I have never been a fan of first days of school; especially at a new one. So today I have a feeling the end of the day can't come sooner. I close my eyes, and shift my thoughts to the music blaring in my ears.

\- (Super short time skip)-

"Dammit, Caleb." I mutter under my breath as I make my way to Home-form. Well, try to anyway. My brother insisted we take a look around the school before we went to class, his curiosity alive as ever. Although, he didn't tell me we only had five minutes to do so. I look back at my time table; it says I'm in the room X5, 12-6, at the very back of the school. Luckily I'm in the right area, just not the class. I let out a huff of annoyance and read the class plaques on the rooms again.

"Are you alright?" someone behind me asks. I turn and see a boy, roughly my age standing there. Part of his shirt hasn't been tucked in but other than that he wears his uniform correctly; ironed white shirt, black and dark blue tie, black polished shoes, and dark blue shorts that nearly reach his knees. I basically wear the same thong except the tie is a light blue and I have a blue skirt on. The boy has light olive skin and short, brown hair. What keeps me silent are his eyes; they're a deep blue, almost black. For some reason I think I could easily find myself lost in them.

"Hello?" He mocks, tilting his head to the side. I shake my head clear of its thoughts.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Just having problems finding my class," I stutter, looking back at my time table.

"Mind if I take a look?" He asks, holding out his hand for the paper. I nod and hand it to him. He only looks at it for a moment before he gives it back.

"It's just around the corner." he says curtly, walking in its direction, apparently showing me to my classroom. I'm quick to follow.

"Not to sound rude, but shouldn't you be going to your class? I'm sure I can manage from here." I say, right next to him. It looks as though he's holding back a grin.

"Undoubtedly, but we're in the same Home-form." He says, opening one of the class room doors with X5 on the front. Once he's inside, he holds the door for me. Once I step through I'm about to say thankyou but he moves away to a seat right in the back corner, away from anyone. As soon as I take my first step towards an empty seat, the teacher speaks up.

"You must be Tris; I've never seen you around here before." She says kindly, smiling at me. I can see the edge of a thick scar running across her eyebrow to the bottom of her lips; I don't want her to think I'm staring so I answer quickly.

"Yes." I can feel most eyes on me so I look at my books, not knowing if I can go find a desk yet.

"It's lovely to meet you, I'm Ms. Reyes. Well, everyone, I hope you all make Tris feel welcomed to St Veronica's. Christina, Shauna, would you two mind to take care of Tris?" I sigh internally. Like I said moments ago to the boy, I can take care of myself.

"Sure." The two girls pipe up, and then the one with mocha skin asks the boy next to her to move down a seat in order for me to sit between the two girls she pointed out. I keep my head down and make my way to the seat. The girls on the table give me a warm, friendly smile. I grin a little. Once I'm seated the girl with mocha skin introduces herself, "Hi I'm Christina, and this is Shauna." The girl beside me extends her hand and I take it.

"Hi." I say, I've never been good with introductions. The girl, Christina points to the girl next to Shauna, "This is Marlene." We both wave a little to each other as she motions to the boy beside herself, that is reading one of the textbooks, "and Will." He continues reading, probably not noticing I'm here. She leans in closer and whispers something in his ear. He looks up dazed and looks at Christina tilting her head in my direction, clearly embarrassed.

Will turns and finally sees me, and his eyes widen in surprise. "Oh, hello." He smiles, his shaggy blond hair flopping over his eyes. He shifts it out of the way before extending a hand, "I'm Will." I take it and introduce myself.

The bell rings and everyone begins to stand up, "What do you have first up?" Shauna asks me. I look at my time table and sigh.

"Maths." Although I'm good at the subject, I still hate it.

"Who's your teacher?"

"Ms. Mathews. Do you know her?" She chuckles a little, looking sorry for me.

"Yeah, she's a bit… how can I put this lightly..." She taps her chin.

"She's a bit of a bitch." Christina tells me.

"Amen to that." Will says, putting away his book.

"Well, if you want, my class room is just next to yours. I could walk you there." Shauna offers. I smile and nod.

"Thanks." I say, I wave my goodbye to Christina and Will, but they don't see it, their chatting to each other.

"Don't take it personally, they're " _madly in love"."_ Shauna says, making air quotations. I laugh and we both walk to Y block. Luckily it was just a quick walk but it was enough time for Shauna to ask me to sit with her and some more friends at lunch time. I agree, happy to see I'm close to making friends. When she's gone I face the window and look into the class room. It's grey, dull walls look like a prison and the desks are spaced in pairs. I'm surprised to find a flat screen TV at the top of the wall above the white board. I feel a light tap on my shoulder and turn to see my brother.

"You made me late to Home-form." I say immediately. He rolls his brown eyes.

"I'm so sorry," Caleb mocks, "Do you want me to explain it to the teacher? 'I'm terribly sorry Ms. My sister is extremely lazy when it comes to getting to class on time', how's that?" I wack him on his shoulder and he laughs. All the students file into the class room and we follow. Once I step in, I see the boy with the mysterious blue eyes sitting in the back corner. He looks bored with his head resting on his hand, obviously drawing on the desk.

"Beatrice?" Caleb calls, motioning me to a desk where he takes a seat. I can feel my face go red as I sit down. I lean in closer to him and whisper, "I told you to call me _Tris_ at school. Five times to be exact." I've never really liked my name, and he knows it. He nods apologetically.

"I will appreciate silence in my class Ms. Prior." The teacher says. She wears a tight fitting blue dress that shows her muffin top, and dark blue heels. She looks at me as though I am a disobedient toddler. I dislike her already.

Turning to face the rest of the class, she says, "Good morning students." We all say the customary 'Good morning" back while she pushes her glasses up further up the bridge of her nose.

"For those of you who do not know me, I am Ms. Mathews, head of maths in year 12." After that she rambles on for a bit longer, explaining how her lessons work. You know, the usual 'I will not tolerate tardiness in my class' or 'homework will be given back on time and fully completed, no excuses'. My mind eventually starts to wonder for a while, eventually I find myself looking back at the boy I met before home form. He isn't too far away so it's easy to see he has his textbook open and is working from it while Ms. Mathews is talking. I take the opportunity to really look at him. Sure, I may seem like a creep, but my curiosity kicks in from time to time. He has long, narrow fingers, ones that are made for fine, deft movements. When I look closely I can see the small scars over his arms, white compared to his tanned skin.

"Ms. Prior." The boy looks my way and we make eye contact for a split second before I turn away and look back at the teacher.

"Yes Ms. Mathews?"

"Would you mind sharing with the class what you were doing while I was speaking?" I think I've changed my mind; I don't dislike her, I _hate_ her.

"No Ms."

"Then keep your eyes to the front or your desk." She turned back to the class once more. I could feel my cheeks flaring but I held back a snide comment. I sunk into my chair and began writing down the equations on the board. From the corner of my eye I saw the boy steal a glance my way. This time I kept my eyes on my table, now and for the rest of the double period.

-(Time skip)-

After the single lesson of Chemistry I make my way to my locker. The lockers here are smaller than those at Chicago High. But luckily my bag still fits inside. As I finish packing away my books and grabbing my food, I hear the loud _crack_ of books falling to the floor.

"Aren't you gonna pick those up nerd?" I turn and see a blond girl on the floor picking up her books, above her a girl with short cut hair laughs with her friends. I go ridged and I feel my cheeks flare. Ever since Caleb was bullied I hated people like that girl laughing. Sure, I always thought they were cruel and pathetic; but after I saw what some kids did to Caleb I began to loath them. I close my locker door, place the key in my pocket, and make my way towards the girl on the floor. I bend down and help her retrieve her belongings.

"Look at that, seems like the Stiff's finally made a friend." the girl above us sneers, "You're pretty short aren't you?"

The blond girl turned towards me and I gave her a look that told her to say nothing. We finished gathering her things and stood up, "Let's go." I say, paying no attention to the group. The two of us turn around but the girl calls out, "I asked you a question." I pause and turn back.

"And?" Her smile falters.

"Don't bother Molly, the twerp is just trying to look tough." A blond boy behind her says. I chuckle lightly as the girl and I turn the corner. She breathes out a sigh of relief and visibly brightens.

"Thankyou, um…"

"Tris." I say.

"Tris. I'm Susan."

"Tris!" I turn to face my brother, but when he sees Susan he trips over his feat.

"Caleb, are you alright?" I hold back a laugh as he continues to stare at Susan. She smiles a little at him and he looks back at me, his cheeks going red.

"Susan, this is my brother. Caleb, this is Susan." I motion between the two of them. They both greet each other and Caleb mindlessly fiddles with his hands.

"Do you guys want to sit with me and some friends this lunch?" Susan asks, pointing to one of the undercover benches on the grass. There are roughly six kids there, some chatting others listening and eating.

"Sure." Caleb says, a bit too hastily, Susan only smiles.

"I told this other girl, Shauna, I'd sit with her and her friends, but I'll see you guys around for sure." I tell them. I have a feeling she didn't completely understand what I said because she and Caleb are still looking at each other. I smile to myself and step back, saying a goodbye in the process. They both wave and make their way towards the table.

I can't keep a smile off my face, that is; until someone nocks me to the ground. I fall with a thud and hit my head. For a moment I see stars, then he helps me up, apologising profusely, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Are you okay? Oh crap, I'm so sorr-"

"Uri, shut-up. Leave the girl alone." Once my head stops spinning I see the two boys in front of me. For second I think I see double, but then realise they must be brothers. They both have dark caramel skin and dark brown hair. The boy with green eyes speaks up on his brothers behalf, "Sorry about him; he had too many Fruit Loops for breakfast this morning."

The other boy pushes him a little bit, "If I remember correctly Ezekiel, it was _you_ that had too many Fruit Loops." Then they launch into an argument about who eats the most Fruit Loops for breakfast. I clear my throat awkwardly and give the two a pointed look.

"Right, sorry." Ezekiel says, suddenly his eyes light up as if he remembered something, "Are you the new girl 'Tris'?" He asks me.

I nod, "And you are?"

"No time for that now, we have to get to our table before lunch is over." Before I can say anything else both boys link on of their arms with mine and walk me in the direction of a table and bench on the undercover area. I stay quite ridged but don't say anything. If things start to get shifty I'll act. After we exit the large crowd I see Shauna sitting on a table with what I soon recognised to be everyone I met in Home-form. Even, to my surprise, the boy with dark blue eyes I was caught staring at in math. My cheeks go red and I look over to the others. When they all see me they look embarrassed.

"Zeke!" Shauna yells, "What are you doing?"

"Being gentlemanly and showing Tris to our table." Uri says. The blue eyed boy looks up from his phone and looks at me surprised. Marlene shakes her head at the boy to my left.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure you've freaked her out." Will says.

"We have not!" Ezekiel, _Zeke,_ protests. "Have we?" He asks me.

For a second I'm stumped, "Umm… no." I drawl, trying but failing to lie. "No not at all. Can I sit down now?" I asked, uncomfortable to be between the two.

"Sorry." The two boys say in unison, letting go of my arms. They both sit down on the edge of the table and Christina shuffles down a bit in order for me to sit between her and -guess who?- the boy from math. Great.

"So how was Math?" Shauna asks me when I sit down. The girls are leaning on their elbows and looking at me as if they know something.

"It was alright." I say, more like a question.

"Well," one of the girls say, "We saw you sitting with one of the new kids." She raises her eyebrows suggestively. For a moment I just sit there, letting that sink in. Then I get it.

"Aww, she's blushing! Oh, I ship-"

"He's her brother." The boy says beside me, sounding bored. The table goes quiet.

"Did Four just talk?" Marlene asks and everyone looks at him strangely. The boy, _Four,_ glares at them and goes back to his phone, I notice he has an earphone in. My curiosity flares and I feel like asking what he's listening to. But I think better of it.

"Well, Tris," Zeke begins, "Let me introduce you to our group. I'm just going to go through everyone because-"

"Zeke," Shauna warns.

" _Because_ you don't know the vital roles they play." He finishes, giving everyone a satisfied smile. He puts an arm around Shauna, "This here is my beautiful- no, no, scratch that- _gorgeous_ girlfriend Shauna. She is the…"

"Come on Ezekiel, we don't have all day." His brother taunts. The other brother narrows his eyes.

"That's Uriah, my little bro. The girl next to him is Marlene, his girlfriend. To be honest it took him a few years to build up the nerve to-"

"Next!" Marlene shouts out, glaring daggers.

"Fine, fine. The out-there, love birds over there are Christina and William-"

"Will." The blond haired boy tells me, annoyed. "Honestly, you are by far the worst presenter."

"Well, if everyone would stop interrupting… Like I was saying, this long haired yahoo in our group is Lynn-"

"I'm a girl. You don't go around calling Shauna and them 'long haired yahoo's'."

"Whatever! _Anyways…"_ He dwindles, "That _ravishing_ boy next to you is our brother Four, well, he's adopted. But we still love him." He smiles at Four, all he does is continue to look down. "Yes, he does that a lot; pretend he didn't hear us and all…"

I let out a small chuckle once he's finished with the introductions.

"Why 'Four'?" I ask the boy next to me. Everyone freezes, but that's not when I realise a made a mistake; it's when he tenses.

"What's it to you?" He responds curtly with venom. He looks up and I meet those mesmerising blue eyes again. This time neither of us seems to be as happy.

"It was just a question." I say with equal annoyance.

"What makes you think you can talk to me?" At that my blood boils, what happened to the boy that helped me to Home-form?

"It must be because you're so approachable. You know, like a bed of nails." Eerily silence hangs over the group, and I do not look away. Looking away is submissive. Looking him in the eye is a challenge. It's my choice. Heat rushes to my cheeks. What will happen when the tension breaks? But strangely enough I see a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"Careful, Tris." He says softly, almost as if there's some hidden message behind it. The bell marking the end of lunch rings and he gets up placing his phone in his pocket in the process. Part of me wished I had asked about the music though.

I turn to the rest of the group and they're all staring at me. "What?"

"I'm pretty sure we're all developing a theory." Christina says while the others nod along.

"And it is?"

She stands and pulls Will up with her, "That you have a death wish."

 **So, what do you reckon? Should I keep going? If you have any ideas for future chapters please post a review. Honestly, please post a review in general. I was really worried posting this and I don't want to keep going if you would think it's bad. And I'm sorry if I made any mistakes with spelling or grammar. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me so I can improve next time.**

 **I'm not saying Veronica Roth is a saint by calling the school 'St. Veronica's'. I just thought 'Divergent High' and stuff like that has been used a lot already. But there's nothing wrong with that.**

 **Also, if you guys have any questions I'm happy to answer them! One last thing, I know that Tris seemed a little bit rude to the 'popular kids', and I only did that because I think that's what she would think.**

 **Thanks for reading, please review! Advice is welcome, just please don't be too harsh.**

 **DauntlessRunner46**


	2. Chapter 2

Shutting everyone and everything out is never a good thing. I know that for sure. But I like to believe there are moments when we have to allow ourselves some peace and quiet. For me it's always been the piano; you purposely let your mind focus on one thing and yet allow it to focus on many things at the same time, if that even makes sense; whether the note is a sharp or flat, or if the pedal is constant or not and so on. And you know what? It's possible. Well, if I have my brother around… not so much.

"Oh come on, 'Fur Elise'? A bit too prestigious don't you think?" Caleb is sitting on one of the brown leather sofas in the living room with his feet up and a book in hand. His hair is ruffled and his school shirt is no longer tucked in. Ever since we got home he's been a pain. Complaining about practically everything, yet insisting he's perfectly fine. But I know soon enough he'll cave in.

"Well," I say, still playing, "Someone sounds cranky. I wanted to learn it, and by the way, you said you liked it before." I give him a quick sideways glance and see he's put the book down. "Want to talk about it?"

He sighs and I start playing softer, "Did you make any friends today?" I stop playing all together and think back to today's events. At first I would say 'no'; it's far too early for me to have made friends. But when I think about it, I think that maybe I have. Still, I don't tell my brother that.

"Maybe soon." I offer. "What does this have to do with anything?" I spin around on the bench and look straight at him. Caleb cranes his head back to look at the ceiling.

"I… I think I have." He says it as though it is some great crime; and I try my hardest to keep a grin off my face. Luckily I manage it.

"What's wrong with that? That's good isn't it?" He shrugs indifferently. I sigh and make my way to the couch. I sit down opposite him so both our knees are bent and our toes are nearly touching. Caleb and I are close, and we both know we care about one another; but it's always been hard to get him to talk. "Come on, spill. What's up? I haven't seen you like this since you finished reading the first Maze Runner book."

"Hey, I had my reasons for that." He glares at me.

"Like?"

"I can't tell you; you haven't read it yet, so it would be a spoiler." He tosses his book to the ground, breathing out a huff of air. "You remember how I sat with Susan and her friends at both breaks?" I nod, remembering fully well how happy he was. "Her friends were really nice, and we had a lot in common but…"

"But?" I nudge his leg with my toe.

"Apparently some of them kind of get bullied."

"So? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's terrible; but why can't you be friends with them?"

He passes a hand through his hair nervously. "What if it makes me more of a target?" I feel a swell of sadness in my chest and I sigh. My family tends to do that often, sighing I mean. Thinking back to Caleb's situation a couple months back, I can't blame him for being afraid. We had a family friend called Eric, key word; _had_. He'd practically grown up with us, our parents knew each other from work and eventually they became close friends. The three of us -Eric, Caleb and I- were quite good friends when we were younger. Anyway, as you imagine; we got older, things changed. He started hanging out with these kids that thought they were above everyone else. Thought it was fun to tease people and all that. Bullies at their finest. At first we didn't understand; Eric was such a nice kid. Before any of this happened, he and Caleb were great friends and would spend lunch times together with these guys. By then I had already distanced myself, I started hanging out with other kids, knowing where this was going. But Caleb wouldn't listen, he thought nothing had changed. Far from it, everything had.

"It won't. You know why?" I don't let him answer, "Because there are more of you." I'd like to lie and say things are different at our new school, but I don't think they will be. "And by the looks of it there are more of you than there are of stupid kids. You guys just need to have each other's backs. But by all means, if you feel like things aren't comfortable there and you don't feel right, just try hang out with different people. I'm sure the kids I hang out with wouldn't mind." I smile when I see I've improved his mood. He nods, thinking it through, and then a sly grin appears.

"You should become a therapist, that way you could make me pay you." I laugh at him and stand up. "I'm serious though, thankyou, you always cheer me up and make me see things clearly." He grabs my hand and gives it a small squeeze. I squeeze back and ruffle his hair more than it already is.

"That's why I'm here." I go and sit back at the piano.

"Could you pick up where you left off? I really do like it." He picks up his book and opens it to the book mark.

"Sure thing; if you get me a glass of water."

He exaggeratedly gets up and stalks out of the room, muttering something about taking him too seriously. I can't hold in my smile to that, even when I start to play.

The rest of the week passes in a blur. Every day is basically a repetition of the previous one; the only exception is the change of a few classes here and there. Thursdays are my favourite; I have two of my favourite subjects then, Biology and Maths C. Yes, I know, total nerd. But I love the challenge from both of them. I just feel like when people look at me they think I'm just not smart enough, or I'm not cut out for it. So, I like to prove them wrong, plain and simple. Unfortunately, there are draw backs. One; I have an assignment for Biology and a small test for Maths C in a few weeks. Two; _he_ is in both of them. And by him I mean Four. I can't help but find myself interested in him, not in a way that I _like_ him. He is just… different. The way he keeps to himself when everyone around him or how every time I see him he has an earbud in, no matter what. And no, I still haven't asked him that question. I spend lunchtimes and mornings at the small, chaotic table. For some reason he isn't there at lunches, just disappears. I asked Zeke were he goes, but he pretended he didn't know. I found it hard to believe that he wouldn't know where his brother was. That's another thing; I had thought they were joking when they said he was their adopted brother, just exaggerating their friendship. Turns out I was wrong. The Pedrads started fostering him when he was around eleven, after three years they decided to adopt him.

"Tris, honey, you there?" I'm startled by my mother in front of me, her bright blue eyes worried. Soon I see she is not the only one, my father and Caleb are watching me as well.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Day dreaming." I go back to playing with my peas. They say nothing more of it, knowing it is beyond common.

"Just wondering if you found out if the school has a music department?" Mum continues, piercing a piece of chicken with her fork.

"They do, but I'm not going to sign up for anything." I say, already knowing their responses.

"How come?" Dad asks, eyeing a book in front of him.

"Andrew, no work at the table." My mother scolds, not having noticed it was there before. She usually picks up on those things easily, that means she had a rough day at work. My mother's a nurse, and not surprisingly, my fathers a doctor. They met while they were both doing placement at the hospital. They like to brag that Caleb and I were born in the exact same one.

"Sorry, love." He says sincerely, looking tired and worn. Caleb and I look at each other, silently agreeing to do the dishes for them tonight.

"I don't have the time anymore." I say, answering my dad's question, "I want to focus on school work for now. I'll just keep practising at home." I shrug.

"Well, that's understandable, sweetie. Just make sure you have some fun too." Dad says, not wanting to push me.

"Maybe it won't take up too much of your time, it would be good to do something different." I knew this would happen. Dad is happy with whatever I do concerning music, but mum is a different story.

I have a feeling she won't drop the music situation, so I give her the next best thing. "I'll ask one of the teachers there how much time it would take out of my week tomorrow. Good enough?" I say mechanically.

"Yes," She smiles cheekily, getting what she wanted.

We eat in silence for a bit after that, then Caleb starts up conversation again. "Have you guys talked with the neighbours?" I sigh, why did he have to bring this up now?

"We were thinking of going over there tomorrow. And we expect you two will come with us." Dad says, looking at Caleb and myself.

"Fun…" I drawl sarcastically.

"Come on, it could be fun. No one could be worse than those first neighbours we had." Caleb mutters the last part.

"Caleb," my mother chastens. I can still remember what he's talking about, and why my parents are touchy with the subject. The last house we lived in is a couple suburbs away from our current one. Our neighbours, other ex-family friends, were… strange to say the least. At least it seemed that way to me. Marcus was one of dad's co-workers, and Evelyn had studied with mum. They had a son, I can never remember his name though. In all honestly I can barely remember his face; we rarely saw him. It was only after what happened that we knew why. "You know we don't like talking about that."

"Sorry." Caleb says apologetic, "It's just that…"

"Yes?" My father prods.

"Well, I just feel guilty that we didn't see what was happening. I mean, it all pointed to it. And we don't even know what happened to their kid." Our parents look at the table, looking guilty themselves.

"Could we have done anything?" I say, not intending on anyone to respond.

"Maybe." Dad says, "Maybe there's more we all could have done, but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time."

After that we all just sit quietly, our food forgotten. And in my mind all I can imagine are the sound of sirens and the small silhouette of a young boy being ushered out of his house by police.

"Please don't tell me you actually want to get there?" Christina asks, trailing behind me as we make our way to Biology on the deserted pathway.

"We're late, Christina." I say monotonously, she knows I have a habit of being on time.

"Oh come on, it's only been, like, five minutes." She says, checking her phone for the time, and then hiding it in her pocket before a teacher catches her. I roll my eyes and we keep walking in silence until we are five classes away, but then I can't hear steps behind me anymore. I turn around and see Christina smiling at someone through a classroom window. I groan; I don't even need to look to know it's Will. Lucky enough, I see a blond haired boy smiling at her from inside the classroom, the teacher inside not even paying attention. I make my way back and grab her wrist, lightly tugging her along.

"Come on lover girl. It's only forty minutes until you see him again." I say, slightly annoyed. Shauna wasn't kidding when she said they were " _madly in love"._ I hold back a laugh. She looks back at him, pouting jokingly, and reluctantly follows me. Finally, we arrive. But then we are faced with another problem. There are only two more seats at either ends of the room. But that's not the issue; it's that one is next to Four. And knowing Christina-

"See ya," She leans in closer, whispering, "Good luck." and walks to the other free desk. I glare in her direction, but Ms. Reyes grasps my attention.

"Girls, glad to see you finally made it." She says, raising an eyebrow. I can tell she's disappointed but it won't last long. Just as I think it, she smiles at me and motions for me to take a seat. Taking a deep breath I walk to the desk at the back of the room. I place my things down and pull the chair out, wincing at the scraping noise in makes. When I sit, Four looks at me and nods his head in greeting. I'm about to speak up, but, of course, I'm cut off.

"As I was saying, today we will be doing some theory work for the first half of the lesson and then you are all free to work on your assignments." Ms. Reyes tells us. Then she writes down some text book pages on the white board. I sigh internally, it should be easy. I've always been good with human anatomy, blame my parents I guess. Before the twenty minutes is up I've finished all the questions and so has Four. We both sit there, in what I feel is awkward silence, neither of us doing anything in particular. Uncomfortable, I start drawing in the corner of my book, resting my hand in my unoccupied palm. Three birds find their way onto my page, each silhouette larger than the other. Only once I'm nearly done do I notice someone has been watching me. I look up next to me and I am met with those mesmerising blue eyes. After a few seconds, he clears his throat and looks down. I follow suit and continue drawing, I'm surprised when I feel his eyes on me again. I smile a little, but I don't look up.

"Okay, everyone, times up. You can get out your laptops, I hope everyone brought them…" She looks around, satisfied to see everyone has. The school had provided all of the senior students with laptops that we apparently didn't pay for, but something tells me they come with a catch. She starts to look down but someone speaks up.

"Ms., can we listen to music?"

"Yeah, can we?" another voices.

"Nope," She replies, "It's against the school rules-"

"Oh come on. Please?" More voices join in and she eventually gives up.

"Oh, all right. But if any of you see another teacher coming pull out your earphones. Got it?"

There is a round of 'yes's and nearly everyone gets out there earphones. Excited, I reach into my pocket to grab mine; we'd never been allowed to use earbuds at my old school. The smile on my face soon drops when I find my pocket empty. I always left it there, once the bell goes in the morning I put my phone together with them in my skirts' pocket. Then I remember; I had put them in my bag this morning. _Great,_ I think, _just great._ I get out my laptop out of my tank bag and place it on my desk. While it turns on I look around the room and see that some people are sharing their music, on the other hand, Uriah seems to be watching a movie. At first I wonder if Ms. Reyes even knows.

"Uriah, what are you doing?" Our teacher asks innocently. I guess that answers it.

"Working on my assignment of course, ma'am."

"Oh of course, how silly of me. I suppose 'The Avengers: Age of Ultron' is a part of your assignment." Four chuckles lightly next to me.

"Uhh, Yes." He takes a minute to form a reply, "I'm trying to figure out if they could truly 'make' Jarvis a person. Anatomy wise I mean." That didn't even make sense.

"I see," she says, "Because that is definitely referring to your assignment of viruses and diseases."

All eyes are on Uriah, he doesn't crack under the pressure though, "Umm…" he begins, "… I got nothing." From where I sit I can see him turn it off and go onto his assignment.

"Hmm." She goes back to her laptop, smiling to herself. How did she know?

"They have a program their laptops that lets them see what's on our screens." I turn to look at the boy beside me. For once he isn't wearing his bored expression, he seem, I don't know… intrigued.

"They?"

"The teachers." He explains.

"Oh," I say, there's that catch, "How did you know-"

"You looked confused." He cuts in, grinning a little. "Is it alright if I ask you something?"

"Umm…" _SPEAK!_ I internally yell at myself, "Sure."

"The birds you drew, what type were they?"

"Ravens." I swallow the lump in my throat, "I don't know, I- I find them interesting." _Do you? Do you really?_

He smiles a loop sided smile. Four has a nice smile. But it's one that looks as if he's surprised someone is paying attention. I hear someone clear their throat, we look up to the front and see Ms. Reyes look at us over the rim of her glasses. She looks almost happy. For the remaining time we stay quiet, but the silence feels different now, not awkward. Once the bells goes everyone packs up their things, and I notice Uriah and Christina are moving extremely slow.

"Bye, Tris." Four says, standing up.

"See you, Four." He nods and leaves. Once he's out the door Uriah and Christina share a glance and rush over to me.

"What was that?" Christina blurts. I keep looking down, packing my things when I reply.

"What was what?" I ask, confused.

"You and Four." Uriah states, I look up and see he is wearing a huge smile.

"I don't know what you mean." I tell them honestly.

"Really, Tris?" Christina says dubious.

"Yes, what do you mean?" The class has emptied out by now, but they are still speaking in hushed voices.

"Didn't you notice how he spoke to you?" Now I'm really confused.

"He was nice?"

"Exactly!" Uriah squeals like a girl.

"Umm, okay. Guys I have to go. I'll see you after lunch." I say. Uriah looks as though he is going over something in his head.

"You really don't see it?" he asks, I nod and he strokes what I assume is his invisible moustache. "Okay, come on Chris." He grabs her forearm and guides her out.

"Wha-" She begins to protest. He whispers something in her ear and she nods frantically, smiling back at me and saying her goodbyes. Once they're gone I shake my head ruefully, my new found friends are strange to say the least. I think about their reaction to that lesson all the way to the music department. Why were they so full of questions, not to mention excitement? I decide to forget about it and find one of the music teachers. The music department is quite large compared to the one at Chicago High **(Sorry if that is not an actual school, I live in Australia, so…)** , compared to the other classrooms; its walls are brightly coloured and the sounds of beginners ring through the halls. Squeaky trumpets sound from one of the smaller rooms, but I'm surprised it quieter than it should be.

"Tris?" I turn around to see a short, well, she's about the same height as me, woman with caramel coloured skin looking at me, a smile on her face. She reminds me of Uriah and Zeke for some reason.

"Hi," I say weakly, "Are you one of the music teachers?"

"Yes, I'm Ms. Pedrad. You must be the new girl my sons told me about; Tris Prior?" She says.

"I am, are you Zeke, Uriah, and Four's mother?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"I am indeed; I hope they haven't been too much of a nuisance around you. Do you-" Ms. Pedrad is cut off by the sounds of a tuba in the room next to us, the teacher inside looks as though he is about to blow with the build-up of frustration. "We're lucky the rooms are sound insulated." The shrill sounds of a violins ring through the hall. "Well, to some degree. Come, we'll move to one of the empty rooms. I guess you want to sign up for one of the music lessons?" I nod, and with no further discussion she turns in the opposite direction and guides me to one of the larger rooms. She opens the door for me and motions for me to take a seat on a chair next to the piano. Once she is seated in stool she asks, "So, do you play anything yet? If you do, how long?"

"Yes, the piano, and for about six years." I deliberate if I should tell her about the singing, and decide I might as well, "And I do just a bit of vocals."

"Excellent, I must admit I'm a bit of a piano person myself. The boys however decided it wasn't for them." She sighs, "Well, are you willing to perform something now?"

"Umm, if you'd like." We exchange seats, and once I'm seated I shuffle about on the stool and think of a song. One of Birdy's songs come to mind, and once I remember how it goes I start off. It's just a simple intro which comes in handy.

"Sorry to interrupt," She says quickly, "But are you able to sing along when you play?"

I nod once more, "Would you like me to or…"

"Yes, please." She shuffles and leans back on her chair, full attention on me. Taking that as the cue, I start off again, taking a deep breath as the lyrics come in.

 _God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts  
Guess he kissed the girls and made them cry  
Those hard-faced queens of misadventure  
God knows what is hiding in those weak and sunken lives  
Fiery throngs of muted angels  
Giving love but getting nothing back, oh_

 _People help the people  
And if you're homesick  
give me your hand and I'll hold it  
People help the people  
And nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had a brain,  
Oh and if I had a brain  
I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool  
That turned all those good hearts away_

 _God knows what is hiding in this world of little consequence  
Behind the tears, inside the lies  
A thousand slowly dying sunsets  
God knows what is hiding in those weak and drunken hearts  
Guess the loneliness came knocking  
No one needs to be alone, oh singin'_

 _People help the people  
And if you're homesick,  
give me your hand and I'll hold it  
People help the people  
Nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had a brain,  
Oh and if I had a brain  
I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool  
That turned all those good hearts away_

This instrumental part eventually has a vocal, but I chicken out and don't do it. Instead, I stick with the instrumental. __

_People help the people  
And if you're homesick,  
give me your hand and I'll hold it  
People help the people  
Nothing will drag you down  
Oh and if I had a brain,  
Oh and if I had a brain  
I'd be cold as a stone and rich as a fool  
That turned all those good hearts away_

The piano goes for a bit longer, and as I finish I hear Ms. Pedrad speak up, "Oh my! That was beautiful, Tris! Why hadn't you come here sooner?"

I'm about to answer when I hear what sounds like pencils fall on the floor. I turn around and see the last person I expected it to be.

"Four! There you are, I was wondering where you had sauntered off to, without telling me may I add." Ms. Pedrad exclaims. Four keeps his eyes on the floor as he picks up the pencils he dropped, placing them back in his case.

"Sorry, Hana." He lifts his eyes to mine and keeps them there, I'm the first to look away. I feel my cheeks heat up as I blush at the thought of him listening to my singing.

"Wasn't Tris great?" Hana asks her son. She is wearing a satisfied smirk on her face, as though she is deliberating something.

"Yeah, she was." He drones, sounding sincere at the same time, I look at him again and notice he is still looking at me, and I'm surprised to see signs of a grin forming on his face. Pushing it back, he turns to Hana, "I should get going, see you at home, Hana." He says, and starts to walk out of the room.

"Alright sweetie, drive safe." She looks at me and winks, "I love you." She says to him in a singsong voice.

He looks at her over his shoulder and narrows his eyes at her, motioning to me with a barely noticeable nod in my direction; in return she raises an eyebrow, an expression I know all too well from my mother. Four sighs and mutters, "Love you too." And with that he's gone, without taking another look back to either of us.

Once he's gone Hana turns to me and whispers, "Don't worry about him, behind those walls he's as tough as cotton balls." causing me to burst out laughing, and I'm sure he can hear me too. I finally know where Zeke and Uriah got their sense of humour. "Now," she says, serious, "I'll have to see when I can fit you in for lessons. And you do know that if you take lessons at the school you must take part in one of the school bands? Like jazz band, concert band…"

I sigh, "That's the thing Ms. Pedrad, I-"

"Please, call me Hana when there are no other teachers around. That's what all of my son's friends do."

I smile, "Alright, Hana, I'm just worried that it'll take up a lot of my time after school, and I really need to keep my grades up." She deliberates what I said for a moment and comes to a conclusion.

"Well, I could pull some strings and have you do your practises at lunches?"

"That sounds great, thankyou." Her watch beeps and she looks down.

"Oh! I have a lesson to go to. I'll email your parents with the times I have available and we can move on from there. Have a good day Tris. I believe you can find your way out of the building?"

"I can. You too, Hana." She smiles and makes her way out of the room. I breathe out a sigh of relief, at least my mother can deal with the rest. I frown, that sounds a bit selfish. As I regret what I though, I begin to zone in on the repetitive flipping of pages in the room. I stand and look around, my eyes land on the spot Four was picking up pencils. Making my way to the corner surrounded by stacked chairs, I kneel down and see there's a sketch book on the floor, its black and fraying at the edges. It isn't as large as other books, I'm guessing about the same size as Fours hand or something. I pick it up and it accidentally opens up to a drawing of flames. It's amazing, there's no colour but the amount of shading Four has done shows it movements clearly, as if it were truly moving on the page. I look closely at the corner and see he's written something.

 _"Pompeii", Bastille_

Does he mean the song? I smile a little, not many people know about Bastille, well, I don't know many people. The bell marking the end of lunch rings and I hear all the children in the other rooms move out. I follow suit, closing the book and standing up. He must have left it hear by accident, I shouldn't just leave it here, should I?

 **Have any of you heard that they're thinking of changing the ending of Allegiant? I mean what! I don't know how to feel about it at all, cause part of me feels like they just. Can't. Do. That. But part of me is happy that I won't have to cry in the movies… take it back I'll cry in other parts. I won't say exactly what their changing in case someone reading this hasn't read Allegiant, but those of you that have probably know what I'm talking about… you know, the reason a lot of us cried HEAPS at the end and to this day…**

 **How did I go? I felt like this chapter was a bit choppy so I kept trying to improve it and that's why I took a while to update. Thankyou to those of you that reviewed, favoured and/or followed. It made me so happy to see that people liked the first chapter. I hope I can update soon, I'll try my best, and reviews do help… ;-) I wasn't sure about the whole adoption process so I'm kind of just guessing it for the purpose of the story, sorry. And sorry for any mistakes.**

 **Anyhoo, please review!**

 **DauntlessRunner46**


	3. Chapter 3

_*The bell marking the end of lunch rings and I hear all the children in the other rooms move out. I follow suit, closing the book and standing up. He must have left it hear by accident, I shouldn't just leave it here, should I?*_

Hours later, in the comfort of my bedroom, I can safely say this; I was wrong. So very, very wrong. After Caleb and I got home, I went straight to my room. Locking the door in the process, and not bothering to put on a pair of clean clothes. I hastily threw my bag on my bed and zipped it open, retrieving Four's sketch book, ready to see what else was in it. Though, as I looked at it for a moment a thought came to mind, that very thought led me to where I am now; sitting on my bed cross-legged, my hands in my lap, and the untouched book in front of me. It's possible that this book is somewhat personal to him. I know that some kids from foster homes had pretty rough pasts, and if he's experienced any of those things and expressed them in here, it would never be my place to look at these without his consent. Now I sit here wishing I had never brought it home with me. At first I put it back in my bag and played the piano downstairs, failing miserably when all I could think about was what I had upstairs. Eventually I went back to my room and got started on some homework, only to find myself utterly frustrated when my thoughts returned to the sketch book. By then I had given up. Now I sit on my bed while I listen to music, staring at the book. Would he really mind if I just took a quick peep? _Yes, he would,_ I chasten myself. I let out a huff of air and fall backwards on my bed, playing with the blue satin fabric of my quilt between my fingers as I listen to a song and sing along in a hushed murmur.

 _Bad news like a sucker punch, what do you say?_

 _Air knocked out of my lungs, your cue to stay_

 _When you hear something difficult don't back away_

 _Some people say nothing, good ones engage_

 _Don't turn your back on me,_

 _Don't bury your head deep,_

 _Just cause you don't know what to say_

 _Don't turn your back on me,_

 _Don't bury your head deep,_

 _Just cause you don't know what to say_

 _It's true,_

 _That it kicks you in the teeth when you are least expecting_

 _Bad news,_

 _Oh it beats you black and blue before you see it coming_

How do I treat other peoples suffering? Do I back out or engage? At first, I believe 'engage', but the more I think about it, the more I see it isn't all black and white. There are different ways people suffer, some people are silent, maybe they aren't suffering anymore, and maybe they have had their share. Those people's struggles are the ones that usually go undetected, or those who do know about it – in the words of Bastille – don't know what to say. The hardest part about suffering is loneliness. People that are hurting don't need words, sometimes, they just need someone to sit down beside them to talk, and try to ease their suffering.

 _Bad news like a sucker punch blew me away_

 _People fill the streets like nothing has changed_

 _Clock hands tick along they don't look the same_

 _Planes fly overhead like any old day._

 _Don't turn your back on me,_

 _Don't bury your head deep,_

 _Just cause you don't know what to say_

 _Don't turn your back on me,_

 _Don't bury your head deep,_

 _Just cause you don't know what to say_

 _It's true,_

 _That it kicks you in the teeth when you are least expecting_

 _Bad news,_

 _Oh it beats you black and blue before you see it coming_

Four. Is this what he experiences? What if the quiet boy has secrets of his own? As terrible as it is, it would explain why he prefers solitude unlike his brothers. I finally know what to do. I sit up and place the sketch book in my bag. I won't look in it; if I were him and someone looked through my belongings I would never trust them, and deep down I want him to trust me. Also, I have a feeling Four does not trust people easily as it is.

 _Maybe I just want some words of distraction_

 _I feel like I'm being consumed_

 _Maybe I'm expecting the perfect reaction_

 _To pull me back_

When Uriah and Christina made a big deal about the way Four talked to me, let alone the fact that he had spoken up in the first place, I shrugged it off. Now that I think about it, he could have been trying to get to know me. _No, that couldn't be it,_ I think. Maybe he is trying to talk to someone, or just wants someone to notice him. I know everyone at the table has good hearts, but I've noticed most of them don't even pay him much attention, not even his brothers. I can't exactly blame them, he is intimidating.

 _It's true,_

 _That it kicks you in the teeth when you are least expecting_

 _Bad news,_

 _Oh it beats you black and blue before you see it coming_

 _It's true,_

 _That it kicks you in the teeth when you are least expecting_

 _Bad news,_

 _Oh it beats you –_

"Beatrice, we're going over to the neighbours today, remember?" My mother reminds me on the other side of my door, breaking me from my daze.

"I'm coming." I hear her retreating footsteps and flop back onto my back. I would much prefer to stay in my room, but I know that's not an option. I heave myself out of bed and get changed out of my uniform. Looking through my wardrobe, I settle on a simple grey Imagine Dragons t-shirt and light blue skinny jeans. Then I look under my bed to find my black converse, and take my hair out of its usual braid. I can't help but grin as I see- because of the braid- my hair cascading down my back in small waves. I look in the mirror, smiling at my reflection. Other girls, like Christina, would never be caught dead in this outfit. I on the other hand have finally discovered what I feel most comfortable in. When I was a bit younger I always hated how I looked - and I still don't exactly love my image now – so I dressed like other girls, short shorts or skirts and all that. Eventually I accepted that we are all different, and there's nothing wrong with that. Plus, at least those girls look good in those outfits; I could never pull it off. I grab my phone before leaving the comforts of my room.

"Hurry up, Tris!" I hear my brother call from downstairs. I smile to myself, he's picked up the habit of calling me 'Tris' at home, just as a nickname I suppose.

"I'm here, I'm here. Let's go?"

"We're just waiting on your mother now." Dad says, opening the front door. We all make our way to the front porch, leaving the door open. My dad is still in the clothes he wore to work, a simple button down, light blue shirt with long sleeves and dark grey trousers. Caleb couldn't be bothered getting changed out of his uniform either. "Natalie?" he yells.

"Just a second!" she yells to us.

Just then Caleb's phone goes off with a loud _ding,_ I take a look to see who it's from, and the name on the screen makes me smile.

I gasp dramatically, "You have Susan's number? OMG!" I squeal like Christina and Marlene. "And you're texting her! OM-"

"We're just friends, stop." he says, attempting to cut me off. He texts her quickly and puts the phone back in his pocket.

"Caleb, you like her, I know you do. You practically trip every time you see her." I point out, turning to my Dad for backup. Caleb gets to him first.

"Dad, tell her to stop, please." he whines.

"Beatrice, stop teasing your brother about his crush." he smiles and winks in my direction. I laugh at Caleb's frustrated expression, but it changes as soon as his phone goes off yet again.

My dad and I try to stifle our laughter as mom comes through the door way. Her blond hair is in a tight bun and she is still wearing her nurses' uniform. Seems as though I was the only one that bothered to change. "I'm here," She smiles and shuts the door behind her, oblivious to our discussion. She gasps and spins around, facing each of us, "Keys?" Caleb raises his hand, jingling his home key. "Right then, let's get a move on." We make our way over to the lawn separating our houses from one another. At first it's in silence, but I can't help it.

"Caleb and Susan sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i"

"Who's Susan?" Mom asks, slightly confused.

"Caleb's girlfriend." He looks at me vehemently as soon as the words pass my lips.

"Beatrice don't tease your brother, it's nice that he has a girlfriend." My mother winks at me and we all laugh at his blush. "I would much like to meet her."

"Mom, she isn't my girlfriend, we've only known each other for two weeks." He points out.

"Shh, we're here." Dad says, ringing the doorbell. I had been too caught up in Caleb's moment to notice we were at their front door. I have to hold back my laughter when I see who is standing in the open door way.

"Susan?" Caleb asks, not believing his luck.

"Caleb." She smiles, she finally sees the rest of our family, "You must be Mrs and Mr Prior. Hey Tris." She says, waving a little. I wave back, sneaking a look at Caleb, who is trying to avoid our mother's eye.

"Andrew, Natalie?" I hear a gruff voice say. A man appears by the entrance, he's a bit taller than Susan and has light brown hair. He must be her father. He looks surprised to say the least, clearly not expecting to see my parents; I wonder how they know each other.

"Michel. I had no idea you lived next door." My dad says laughing. He then introduces Caleb and I. We explain that we know Susan from school, then he and my father go on to discuss work related topics. As it turns out they work together. It hasn't escaped me that my parents have a knack for coincidently meeting up with work acquaintances.

"How rude of me, come in, come in." Michel says, holding the door for us to come through. They have quite a spacious home, and something about it feels welcoming. As Susan's father leads us to what I assume is the kitchen, her and Caleb lag behind, talking quietly about how they can't believe we are neighbours. "My wife's just upstairs; she'll be down in a bit. Would you like a cup of coffee? Tea?" he asks as we enter a small yet comfortable kitchen. My parents accept, taking a seat on stools next to the counter top after Michel motions them to. Caleb and I politely decline, and make our way to the living room with Susan. We step through the archway and see Robert, her brother, surrounded and engrossed in his school books. His brown hair falls over his eyes a little as he bends over a book. When he pushes it back he sees we're there.

"Hey guys," He says, tipping his head to the both of us and looking back down. As our presence sinks in, he quickly looks back up expectantly. "Uhh…"

"Hi neighbour." Caleb says, smiling. After the same conversation we all take a seat somewhere; Caleb and Robert are on the floor talking about something to do with Chemistry, and Susan and I sit on one of the beige leather sofas. We mainly talk about school until she asks what we have planned for this weekend; as usual, Caleb and I have nothing to do. "Well Robert and I were planning on seeing that new Star Wars movie. Do guys want to come?" Susan asks me.

"Yes, please!" Caleb practically shouts, then regrets it instantly. "I- I mean, if you want to, Tris. Um, I'm happy to." I smiled warmly at my brother, in the great and powerful words of Christina… I ship it.

"Yeah, that would be cool." I say, trying to spare my brother an awkward moment. Not only had he been begging me to go see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, I know he would love to go with Susan.

 **AN: I have no idea how the driving system works in America and I tried looking it up on the internet but I didn't get it. Sorry if I stuffed it up somehow, but please tell me if I have? Thankyou!**

"Oh come on! MOVE! Don't just stop and drop your kid off in the middle of the line!" My brother shouts to the car in front of him in the school car park. I have to stop myself from smiling; he is always so hot headed when driving his car. Earlier this year he got his driver's licence, so now he's finally on his 'P' plates. I haven't gotten my own car yet, because my birthday is in December. Every single time I get into his black Holden Monaro; "Be careful Beatrice, don't _slam_ the door.", "Beatrice! Careful with your drink!" "Beatrice! Blah, Blah, Blah…."

"Tris? Are you even listening to me?" Caleb asks, turning to glare at the line in front of us, then looks worriedly at me. "You've been really quiet the entire ride here." He did have a point, and I have been thinking, and not just about my brother's driving. I clutch my school bag tighter and am reminded once again of what rests inside of it.

"Yeah," I say nonchalantly, "I'm fine. You excited to see Susan?"

"Don't change the topic." He says, and gasps excitedly when he finds an unoccupied parking space. As he pulls in I can tell by the way his eyes skim over the school grounds that he is looking for someone.

"Don't deny it." I unbuckle my seatbelt but stay where I am.

He is silent for a moment, as if deliberating something, "I didn't deny it." He says eventually, followed by a deep scarlet blush. It takes a moment for what he just said to sink in.

"Naw! My baby Brover is growing up! And he has a wittle cwush!" I say in my best baby voice.

"This is why I don't tell you things… And I'm eleven months older than you!" He gets out and grabs his bag from the back seat. "And I didn't say I had a crush on her! I didn't even insinuate it!"

"Oh stop using that against me. It's just that you're-" I stop when I hear the low grumbling of a car engine behind me. I turn and see a two door, marron coloured car pull up beside us.

"Check out that Ford Mustang! It must be a model from the 90's or something." Caleb gushes, "It's one of dad's favourites." There is no doubting that. Dad has always had a thing for muscle cars, and he and my brother absolutely love cars in general. But sometimes Caleb prefers Chevrolets. Personally, I think they're both great.

A smile forms on my face when I see who's in it. "Hey Tris!" Uriah leans towards the front from the back seat while he and Zeke yell out from the passenger side. Four is in the driver's seat switching off the engine. He looks up at me and I feel like those blue eyes are searching mine. Part of me thinks he knows I have his sketch book, or maybe I'm just paranoid. They each get out and come towards Caleb and I, my brother seems a bit uncomfortable, and then I realise he hasn't really been introduced to my friends.

"Guys, this is Caleb, my brother. Caleb, these are my friends Four, Zeke and Uriah." They each say a form of hello, even Four with the slight nod of his head and a small 'hey'. After, when Caleb makes small talk with Zeke and Uriah about cars, I catch Four staring at me, he doesn't turn his gaze away when our eyes meet. He has a small shy, grin on his face, but when Zeke turns towards him we break eye contact and he is back to wearing that placid expression. Every time I see it I wonder how his demeanour changes so rapidly. He must do it often. The bell sounds and we say our good byes. Caleb keeps walking with the two brothers, explaining that they have home form classes next to each other. Four and I are left in the parking lot, silent. I clear my throat and hoist my bag onto my back, and then I remember.

"Um, Four?" I ask, so quiet I doubt he heard me. He did though; he finishes locking their car and faces me. He watches expectantly, as if surprised I'm talking to him at all. I have no idea how to explain this, and he must have picked up on that.

"Yes?" He prods quietly. I fidget with my hands and look around the car park, luckily finding it empty. I take my bag off my shoulder and open it, rummaging through all my books until I find his. Once I take it out he stiffens and looks down.

"What's that?" Four stuffs his hands in his pockets and leans back against his car. He is trying to act casual, as if he doesn't want me to know it's his. I take a hesitant step forward and hold it out to him.

"I haven't told anyone, and I'm not going to." I say, smiling a little. He slowly looks up until we are making eye contact again, which isn't much considering he is practically a head taller than me. Four watches me for a moment, deliberating whether he should trust me or not. I feel like he's thinking about something else too, and I wish I knew what. Eventually, he reaches out. His fingers skim mine as he takes the book, holding it to his side.

"I left it in the music room." He says, knowing that must be where I found it.

I nod slowly, "I wasn't going to tell them about that either, if you didn't want me to." I'm about to leave it at that, but I need to tell him something else as well, "When I went to pick it up it opened to this one picture, it was amazing. That was the only one I saw, I figured you wouldn't want me to look through your stuff..." Well, it's partially true.

Four visibly relaxes, "Thankyou." He murmurs. The second bell rings through the school and he picks up his bag, placing the book in it. "We should get going." I nod and stand there, not really understanding what he meant. To my surprise, he stands there looking slightly amused.

"Oh, yeah, uh, we should." I turn around and wait to see if he walks alongside me. He does, and it doesn't escape my attention that he doesn't pull out his ear phones. We walk in silence for a while, it feels a little awkward to be honest. I try think of something decent and simple to talk about, but fail miserably. I end up blurting out the first thing that came to mind.

"When did you start drawing?" It seems like casual conversation, but considering Four's dislike in sharing any relatively personal information, perhaps it wasn't a good topic.

"Depends what type of drawing you're referring to." Four says, which throws me off guard a little. He seems relaxed, with both his hands in his pockets and part of his shirt untucked as usual. "Do you mean the relatively good ones, or the stick figures I use to make when I was younger?" He surprises me with a small smile, letting me know he's only kidding.

"You call those 'relatively good'?" I ask incredulously, "They're amazing."

He rolls his eyes, "I thought you only saw one."

"I did… and it was amazing."

"So why do you think they're all decent?"

I look at him suspiciously, "You just did it again, you know."

He makes eye contact for the first time while we were walking, "Did what?"

"Degraded yourself. You really shouldn't." I look at the floor, slightly agitated.

"And why is that?"

I try to kick a rock off the footpath and into the garden, but he stops it with his foot and kicks it a head of him. When we reach it again he kicks it further, with it rolling more onto my side of the path. Without thinking about it, I kick the stone back towards him. He continues with his little game while I figure out what to say. "Because it's kind of pointless. Your drawings-" I sigh, knowing I can't win, "are really good, and the more you say they aren't the less great they become." We reach the little rock again and he kicks it into the gutter, I look up and realise we're almost at the classroom door. Four stops just before we reach it, looking at me with his ocean blue eyes and I take that as a cue to stop as well.

"Eleven." He says quietly.

"What?"

"Eleven." He is louder this time, as if surer. "I was eleven when I started learning how to draw." He adds, answering the initial question. He opens the door and motions for me to go through. Once we're both in he doesn't speak again, just sits in the back row as usual. It's then that I realise he tried to dodge the question before by answering it with another one. I look at Christina, who was eyeing the two of us wearily. She questions me with a raised eyebrow and a nod in Four's direction. I take another look back towards him and a surge of guilt runs through me. Once again he is getting out his head phones and staring out into space as he listens to music. I walk over to the spare desk next to Shauna's and sit down, feeling their eyes on me. I don't return their stare for the rest of Home-form, but keep my head down and my eyes on my desk.

My Monday morning passes as a blur. Double Math B was murder with Mrs. Mathews practically watching my every move to see if she could tell me off for something. At least for Math C, taught by Mr Johnson, I don't have to worry about her always reminding everyone she prefers Caleb over me. Praising him on his achievements bombarding me with questions she knows I won't be able to answer, not yet anyway. Honestly, I couldn't care less. She likes him because he does as told, no questions asked. Chemistry was alright, it's taught by Mr Wilson, but he's told us he prefers teaching Sports over it. He also tells us to just call him Amar. I guess old habits die hard, and I stick to calling him 'Sir'.

"Is it just me, or does Mrs. Mathews really dislike you?" Caleb asks as we make our way towards our lockers after my single lesson of Chemistry and his period of Health Education.

"Of course not, what a silly thing to imply," I say, "She absolutely _loathes_ me. This lesson she practically told me off for breathing." He laughs beside me, then we make our separate ways. I pack all my books into my locker and grab my everyday lunch; sandwich, fruit, muesli bar. As I'm about to make my way over to our table, a large figure stands in my way.

"Hey stiff, long time no see." I groan on the inside, did this have to be today?

"Hello, Molly." I say, holding back a snide remark, "If you'll excuse me." But some of her friends stand behind her, watching me in an amused sort of way. I roll my eyes and turn back to the girl in front of me, "Mind telling your lackeys to move?"

"Why should I, we haven't spoken in ages. And I have to admit, I've kind of missed your short little self, acting tough and all." Some girls snicker behind her. I recognise one from Chemistry, Lauren, I think her name is. Probably doesn't know what five plus five is, at least that's how she acts. "It's entertaining."

I'm about to say something I probably shouldn't, but I decide against it when I feel a hand on my shoulder. My hands clench into tight fists as I look up to see who it is. The boy next to me is tall with dark hair, white wide smile, and dark green eyes. Peter Hayes. I grind my teeth as he doesn't move his hand, I shrug it off instead of asking him to.

"Ouch," He taunts, placing a hand to his chest, just above his heart.

I move yet again to leave, pushing past Lauren with my shoulder as she steps in my way.

"Come on Stiff, don't be so pathetic." Peter says, "We just wanted to have a chat." I don't reply as I walk towards my friends.

I sit down between Zeke and Four and glare at my food. "What has that sandwich ever done to you?" Uriah asks in front of me, dropping his smile when he sees I'm not the mood to joke.

"What-" Christina starts to say, but I give her a look saying 'drop it', so she does. The others must have picked up the hint and returned to usual. All except Four. His eyes are on the side of my head, as if trying to read my mind. I don't look at him though.

"Oh Tris, the coolest thing happened at home on Friday afternoon!" Zeke says, trying to ease the tension. "Mom told us you sing and play piano, and she says you're amazing."

"WHAT?" All the girls shout, except Lynn, who looks at me surprised as I choke on my sandwich. I hear Four chuckle beside me, clearly having heard what was going on even though he has his earbuds in, yet again.

"I know right?" Uriah says imitating the girls.

"Why didn't you tell us you could sing?" Shauna says

"And play piano." Marleen adds, dumbfound.

I shrug, shying away from all the attention, "Never came up in conversation."

"Well that settles it," Zeke says, slamming his hand down on the table importantly. "We'll have a get together at our place this weekend, Tris can sing for us there."

"Wait, what-" Someone cuts me off mid-sentence.

"All in favour raise your hand." Will says, lifting his own. Everyone, even Four, follow suit.

"No way-"

"Yes way, you have to anyway. It's his birthday Saturday." Christina says, motioning to Uriah. He lifts the back of his fingers to the bottom of his chin, wearing a superior smirk. They all look at me, knowing they've won.

"I don't even know if I'll be able to come." I point out hopelessly. Though, I have to admit, it would be awesome if I could.

"At least ask, come on." Christina whines, "It'll be fun." She bats her eyes at me hopefully.

I sigh, knowing there's no way for me to get out of this, "Okay, I'll ask. Who would be coming?"

"Yours truly," Zeke says mischievously, pointing to himself.

"Only because you live there." Lynn mutters, but smiles as well.

"Ha. Ha. You're hilarious." Zeke says while all of us except Four laugh. "Anyhoo… Lynn, Mar, Christina, Will, and Shauna will be coming too." He pointed to each of them as he spoke.

Uriah gasps, "What about me and Four?" he looks absolutely shattered.

"Oh, alright. Four can join us." Marleen says, teasing her boyfriend. It's his birthday get together after all.

"But Mar, I thought what we had was special." He pretends to wipe a tear away and places a hand to his heart. He grins wickedly and starts to sing, "Don't break ma heart, ma achy breaky heart…"

"Stop! Dear God, make it stop!" Lynn says, covering her ears to block out his voice. But he still doesn't stop, instead he starts singing louder, causing a few heads to turn our way.

I laugh so hard it feels as though my sides are about to split. Through my tears I see Four watching the little fiasco, trying to bite down his smile so no one can see it. I look around and see Zeke smiling at his adopted brother, giving him what looks like an 'I told you so' look. Four rolls his eyes, finally succumbing to his half smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Please just give me a chance and read this authors note, please. I beg of you.

I accept any judgement because frankly I deserve it. But I do have some reasons as to why I haven't been posting, like at all.

\- School. Enough said. It sucks, and some people there also suck. The whole system SUCKS.

\- Other Fandoms. Don't get me wrong, I am still an utter fangirl with Divergent… but I've also recently become an absolute, crazed Marvel fangirl (Basically since they made my ship sail in AOU, but it's gotten stronger now that I'm re-watching all the movies and reading so many fanfictions), Red Queen fangirl, and Shannara Chronicles fangirl. So sometimes, yes, instead of writing my fics I prefer to read some adorable Brutasha stories. I'm sorry, but come on, can you really blame me?

As you can see these in NO way excuse my behaviour, I updated in February… that's so long ago, and I'm so sorry. I'm just working out the kinks in the story and I promise, cross my heart, I will NOT GIVE UP. I'm not sure if this is the correct word; but I'm officially putting this story on Hiatus. I'm sorry, I know it's so frustrating when you're reading a fanfic and this happens; but I'd rather do this than write a crap story. And I would like to send you all an apology, especially to ThatOneLife, who I told, and I quote, "I will definitely be updating soon."… That was more than two months ago. I'm so sorry, to everyone for having to deal with my asinine self. But please don't give up on me, I promise I will continue this fanfiction.

I would like to say a huge thank you to you all! You guys are amazing just for reading this ridiculous authors note. I just love reading your reviews and PMs and just getting those emails that say someone followed or favoured this story. I know this is said a lot, but it seriously makes my day.

Once again; big thank you, even bigger apology for my ridiculousness, you guys are amazing and I will continue this story.

Sorry and thank you again,

DauntlessRunner46

(And if you haven't seen Captain America: Civil War… you should go watch it. It was amazing! And if any of you are by chance Brutasha shippers, you're awesome. Even if you're not, you're awesome too though J )


	5. Chapter 5

I'm greeted with the mouth-watering scent of my mothers' roast chicken when Caleb and I step through the front door. My brother kicks off his shoes and drops his bag on the side of the sofa, grabbing one of his books from the table before he lies down.

 _Nerd._ We've been home for barley a minute but he's already reading. **(Basically my life.)** Caleb looks up at me from over the top of the book, "What?" he asks, when I give him a condensing smile. I roll my eyes, and make my way to the kitchen.

"Hey, sweetie." Mom says with her back to me, cutting up a variety of vegetables. I stop and take a moment to watch. Her golden hair is tied up in a messy bun, with a flowery dress under her bright red apron. Even like this my mother still manages to look beautiful. Many people say I look like her, but when I really take a good look at her, I don't see how that is possible. Making my way over to her bench, I grab an already peeled baby carrot, receiving a nasty look just like every other time I do this. I smile and kiss her on the cheek, "Hey, Mom."

"Don't 'Hey, Mom' me. Go grab another carrot from the-" I cut her off by biting a large chunk off the end, effectively creating a loud crunch _._ I grin mischievously at her before I start chewing, but go grab another carrot out of the fridge none the less. I finish off with the carrot in my hand quickly and start peeling the other. We make small talk for a while, I tell her about school, she tells me how work was. She continues telling me about the rest of her day, then our home phone goes off. I go and grab it from the counter but before I can speak I hear shouting on the other side.

"Four! Put it back on Sesame Street!" I place a hand over my mouth and bite back my laughter. There's no way…

"Uri, you need to get over that-"

"Boy's-"

"Don't you dare say 'kids show'! It's _recommended_ for kids, doesn't mean me and Uri can't watch it."

"Boy's-"

"You tell him Zeke! See? Sesame Street is loved by all. And we know you still love the Cookie Monster! Don't you try deny it, you love him just as much as Zeke loves Oscar and I love Elmo!"

"Boy's! I am trying to call Tris' home!"

"Oh! Can we talk to her too?"

"Put her on speaker!"

"I'm going to my room."

"Is this thing working?" Hana's confused voice rose above the others.

"No! Four, come back! _I will go down with this ship-"_ One of the boys sings, making me roll my eyes. Honestly, they ship him with a puppet.

"Who is it?" My mother asks, "What are you smiling at, Beatrice?" I can't help but laugh at the awkwardness of it all. My mom reaches out for the phone, and I deliberate whether she'll hear the guys on the other end. Though, she is giving me that 'give me the phone look', and I can't exactly say no to that. I pass her the phone, praying my friends won't make a bad impression, and let out a huff of air once my mother speaks. "Hello?... Hello, this is Natalie Prior, Beatrice's mother." She must be speaking with Hana. _Thank God_. I begin to make my way out of the kitchen, but mom calls my attention back with the snap of her fingers, not able to voice it. "Oh I see… ah… mhmm… oh! Yes that would be great. What days are you available?" She pauses yet again and I give up; raising my eyebrow at her and motioning with my arms if I can leave. She waves me away and I make my way out of the kitchen, leaving my mother engrossed in conversation with Hana.

I walk into the living room and find Caleb exactly where I left him, but this time his eyes have gone wide and his mouth is open in shock.

"That bit-"

"Language." I chasten, in by best Steve Rodgers impersonation.

"I can't believe this! He trusted her! _I_ trusted her! And she just stabbed him in the back! What the fu-"

"Language." I repeat, unable to contain myself.

"Enough with the Avengers references! There are plenty more important things than Marvel, you know." Caleb turns back to his book, which I notice to be _The_ _Scorch Trials_ by James Dashner. But I won't let him off that easy. I yank to paperback out of his firm grasp. My brother splutters and reaches for the novel, which results in me holding it above my head. Usually this would never work because he's taller than me, but he has remained seated.

"Beatrice!" He proclaims as he stands, towering over be by a few inches. So much for that plan. _Plan B it is._ I take a few steps back from him and hold the book so it's almost fully closed, just enough that my intention becomes clear. In my peripheral vision I can still see Caleb's book mark, bright blue in contrast to the beige lounge.

"I can find the page after." He points out, crossing his arms over his chest superiorly.

"Not without risking the chance of spoiling yourself." His eyes widen in realisation and fear.

"Beatrice, give it back." Caleb holds his hand out expectantly,

"Not until you _take_ it back. We had a mutual agreement, remember?" I arch a thin eyebrow at him, daring him to say otherwise. "In which I respect your fandoms and you respect mine."

Caleb sighs dramatically, face palming and rolling his eyes. "My sincerest apologies for mocking Captain America and the Avengers." He says pedantically, "Now can I please have my book back?!"

"Beatrice," I hear my Mom call, moments later she appears in the entryway, "It was Mrs. Pedrad, I think. One of the music teachers. She said she can't fit you into the music department considering the times you wanted. She seemed really sorry too." Something inside me deflates, I was really looking forward to having lessons again. Not only do they improve my playing, they give me some chance to get out of the schools usual routine. My brother attempts to grab the book out of my grasp, but I take a step back.

"Oh, it's alright." I lie, "I've been busy with school stuff anyway."

"So you don't want to hear what she has to offer instead?" Mom grins slyly, ignoring the little stand-off between my brother and me.

"What is it?" I ask, momentarily forgetting about the book in my hand.

"I suppose you don't _really_ want to know…" She teases, nodding towards the book in my hand.

"Mom," I whine, giving Caleb back his book none the less, resulting in him fist bumping the air and sending mom a grateful smile.

The woman smiles proudly, then turns to face me. "She offered to give you lessons anyway, one Friday afternoons after school. She thinks you're very good by the way." I smile a bit.

"Okay, awesome. Thanks, Mom." She smiles back and makes her way back to the kitchen. But then a thought comes to mind, "Wait, where will I have the lessons then?"

"Oh, I thought I said. You'll be having them at her home." _Oh._ My smile falls.

 **Authors Note: Please read, it's important**

 **Alright, I'm sorry, but I just can't find the motivation to write this fanfiction anymore. And it's mainly just because I've moved away from the Divergent series, and have found other novels and movies I prefer. I still believe the Divergent series is amazing, but in a way I've gotten over it. So because of that I'm not going to continue with this story, but I am going to put it up for adoption for anyone who wishes to take it. Shoot me a review or PM to let me know if you want it, and then I'll let whoever is still reading this story know it's being written by a new author on a new 'chapter'.**

 **A big thank you to everyone who has stuck by me with this story, and has PM'ed or reviewed. And I apologise for all the terrible grammar and spelling mistakes I have made along the way (Seriously, I read the previous chapters and I'm pretty embarrassed at my sucky writing). And I sincerely apologise for the long wait… yet again…hmm.**

 **Hope you all had a very merry Christmas, for those of you who celebrated it, and that you all have a happy and prosperous New Year! :) May it be a year full of Fandom madness and Fanfiction :D**


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